Thales has become the latest Iridium Certus aviation service provider.
Having already developed the Iridium Certus-based FlytLINK terminal and antenna, Thales will now be able to offer both Iridium Certus terminals and Iridium Certus connectivity services to business jets, commercial aircraft, rotorcraft, general aviation and UAVs.
Thales plans to be first to market with an Iridium Certus aviation product and has a unique place in the Iridium Certus partner ecosystem as the only company manufacturing land, maritime and aviation terminals. This includes a hybrid FlytLINK solution that combines Iridium Certus capabilities with Iridium’s traditional narrowband services, including safety services, which will be available with its initial release.
Iridium Certus will provide Iridium Future Air Navigation System (FANS) applications such as standard and “enhanced” ADS-C, controller-pilot data link communications and ATS Safety Voice, once certifications are complete. Beyond safety services, Iridium Certus will deliver flight deck and business cabin-friendly internet capabilities such as electronic flight bag services, graphical weather, blackbox streaming, email, credit card processing, VPN access and social media posting and monitoring.
“As the aviation industry continues to adopt satcom as a primary means of long-range communications, reliable and cost-effective systems with truly global coverage are becoming an increasing necessity,” said Michael Hooper, director and general manager of aviation, Iridium. “The Iridium Certus platform will provide the only solutions that meet the coverage, cost and capability requirements for this new generation of aircraft communications, and we’re excited to further expand our close partnership with Thales to bring these capabilities to market.”
